Heroes

Savannah Ovitt

October 18, 2012

World Lit- Midterm

Heroes

Literary heroes have been important to stories and poems throughout history. Each author develops his hero through conscious use of detail, expression, and tone to outline a hero’s personality. Homer, in his epic poem The Iliad, develops a classic hero, Achilles, who is a courageous soldier and a respected leader. He also has human flaws that eventually lead to a downfall. In many of these literary stories we see significant transitions in the hero’s character as the story develops. We see Gilgamesh act in many different ways and in the beginning of the epic; he doesn’t have many of the traits that a real hero should possess. It makes you wonder if he will overcome it and be all he can be in the end. The Odyssey is a classic representation of an epic hero and a character must express certain virtues to be considered one. Strength, courage, and nobility are prerequisites. Cleverness is an added bonus. Achilles, Odysseus, and Gilgamesh all go through personal change during the course of their stories and come out in the end being remembered as a hero.

Odysseus is smart and always has an answer for everything, but from the beginning of the epic to the end you see unique changes in his personality. Throughout the epic Odysseus is helped out by his men a number of times, they are always there for him in times of need. They carry out any task that is given to them without any question. Odysseus would not have been able to sneak back into the palace and slay the suitors if it wasn’t for his men that stayed on the island. Having people always there to help you out is a good characteristic of a hero because it shows that they are truly respected. Being able to use your knowledge to outsmart other people is an important trait for a hero because it allows you to make good decisions to get out of bad situations. There are many examples of this, including when he tricked the Cyclops to drink the wine and get drunk....